Health and Fitness

Colonoscopy

Written by Gerard on Tuesday 29 June 2010

You know how old stand-up comedians used to start their routines with "A funny thing happened on the way to the theatre..."? Well, a few weeks ago, a funny thing happened me in the airport. I took a quick trip to the bathrooms and was alarmed to discover quite a lot of blood on the toilet paper when I was finishing up. (Oh yeah, this post might ick you out a little bit.) There was more blood on the bowl, the sight of which made me the tiniest bit dizzy. Nothing like being in an airport, on your own and bleeding profusely from the back passage to cause a mild panic.

Cycling with Rachel

Written by Gerard on Sunday 13 June 2010

I had quite a Rachel-centric day today. Rachel's our 8 going on 18 year old, a very knowing, witty and fun little girl to be around. She's definitely picked up my sarcastic streak, and had a great knack of using it to comic effect.

First off, I came down to start breakfast with the kids. We're trying to be better about getting up on time on weekend mornings, because the kids often slope downstairs and stuff themselves while we sleep. I mentioned in passing that I was going for a cycle, and Rachel invited herself along.

Time to get serious about losing weight

Written by Gerard on Monday 31 May 2010

My wife told me that new studies suggest carrying weight around your belly is the worst place to be fat. I was never aware that you had any choice in where you carried your weight, but the news dismayed me a little bit. I've been developing a rather worrying pot belly for the last few years - mostly as a result of a desk-based work life combined with a really lazy diet.

There are penalties for rocking the pot bellied look: you're at an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes. And you don't want either of those things knocking on your door.

Cancer everywhere

Written by Gerard on Wednesday 16 December 2009

Let's come straight out and say it: Lisa's mother has been diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. The events that led up to this have been unfolding over the past month, and a fairly concrete diagnosis came something over a week or a fortnight ago.

Lisa, naturally, was devastated. She didn't help herself much by doing some web research into the survival rates and details of the disease. Seems Ovarian Cancer is dubbed the 'silent killer'...